Facts and Figures

For facts and figures on various aspects of Scottish life, click on the links below

• Living in Scotland 
• Attitudes in Scotland 
• Being out 
• Crime 
• Domestic Abuse 
• Homophobic bullying 
• The workplace 
• Health and the NHS 

Living in Scotland

• There are 300,000 gay people in Scotland, 6% of the population.
• 80% of gay young people have experienced discrimination (NHS Greater Glasgow survey "Something to tell you")
• 57% of young Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual or Transgender (LGBT) people believe Scotland is good place to live - but 90% believe homophobia and transphobia is still a problem (LGBT Youth Scotland, 2007)
• The Pink Pound is worth £7billion a year to the Scottish economy.

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Attitudes in Scotland

•  73% of Scots have a positive opinion of gay and lesbian people
• 73% of Scots think prejudice against gay and lesbian people in Britain should be tackled
• 63% of Scots think religious attitudes are to blame for public prejudice against gays and lesbians.
• 90% of Scots think gay bullying in schools should be tackled
• 93% of Scots support the fact that it's illegal to discriminate against people at work on the grounds of sexual orientation
• 67% of Scots support civil partnerships
• 85% of Scots support future legislation against discrimination in provision of healthcare and social services
• 90% of Scots believe it should be illegal to incite hatred on the basis of sexual orientation
• 94% of Scots would be comfortable if they had a gay colleague, 90% if there was a gay footballer on their team, 89% if they had a gay close friend, and 77% if their child was gay.

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Being out

• 56% of LGBT people are out to all their family, 72% to all their friends and  55% to all their work colleagues.But 10% aren't out to any family members or work colleagues
• 68% are out to their GP64% are out to their employer

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Crime

• Just 37% of the victims of homophobic crime in Edinburgh in 2006 reported the incidents to the police
• 68% of LGBT people had been verbally abused or threatened by someone who assumed they were LGB or T, 35% in the past year. 61% had felt unsafe in the street, 30% in their own home or neighbourhood, 20% at school, college or university and 16% at work.
• 67% of LGBT people have experience verbal abuse - 80% never reported it to the police (LGBT welfare centre needs assessment)
• There were more than twice as many reported incidents of homophobic hate crime as faith based incidents in the Lothian and Borders area last year - 75 homophobic incidents compared to 36 faith based. But there is a statutory aggravation for faith based hate crimes, and none for those based on sexual orientation.

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Domestic abuse

• An estimated 1 in 4 LGBT people experience domestic abuse from family members, partners or ex partners

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Homophobic bullying

•  68% of young Scottish lesbian, gay or bisexual people have been homophobically bullied at school
• 21% of Scottish schools teach that homophobic bullying is wrong.
• In schools that say homophobic bullying is wrong, gay pupils are 60% less likely to be bullied
• 90% of Scots think homophobic bullying in schools should be tackled

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The workplace

• 93% of Scots support the fact that it's illegal to discriminate against people at work on the grounds of sexual orientation 
• 74% of LGB customers and 42% of straight consumers are less likely to buy products from companies that hold negative views of lesbians and gay men
• 36% of gay employees will change careers in the face of discrimination - so improving workplace equality reduces staff turnover
• One in three of gay staff conceals their sexual orientation at work, yet out employees in safe environments earn 50% more than their closeted peers
• At least 55% of gay employees facing workplace discrimination report direct negative work impact20% of gay employees facing workplace discrimination will consider suicide

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Health and the NHS

• 25 per cent of respondents in a Scottish survey of LGBT people had experienced inappropriate advice or treatment due to their sexual orientation or gender identity and 24% had experienced homophobia from NHS staff
• 31% of Scottish lesbians and 13% of Scottish gay men have children, yet there is limited service provision and targeted information
• Young gay and bisexual men are 6.7 times more likely to attempt suicide than the general population

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